Updates, advisories and surprises

(4:17 PM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Drive-in restaurant chain Sonic Corp.
SONC, -0.84%
reported quarterly results late Tuesday that topped the Wall Street analyst consensus. The company reported adjusted fiscal second-quarter earnings of 13 cents a share on revenue of $126.2 million. Analysts surveyed by FactSet expected 12 cents a share on revenue of $124.8 million. Sonic also said it plans to by back $105 million in shares in fiscal 2015. Shares of Sonic rose 0.9% to $36.99 in after-hours activity.

Steelcase Inc. earnings above Wall Street expectations

(4:15 PM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Steelcase Inc.
SCS, +0.00%
on Tuesday said it earned $22.8 million, or 18 cents a share, in the fourth quarter. Adjusted for one-time items, the company earned 21 cents a share, it said. That compares with adjusted earnings of 18 cents a share a year ago. The company said its revenue hit $750 million in the quarter, compared with $779 million a year ago. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected earnings of 20 cents a share on revenues of $768 million. Shares of the office furniture maker were up a fraction in after-hours trading after ending Tuesday down 2.3%.

New-home sales jump to 539,000 rate in February, highest in 7 years

(10:00 AM ET) WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - New U.S. homes sold at an annual rate of 539,000 in February to mark the best month of sales in seven years, the government reported Tuesday. The pace of sales for January was also revised up sharply to 500,000. It's the first time annualized sales have hit 500,000 or more for two straight months since early 2008, though demand is still far lower compared to the years prior to the Great Recession. Economists polled by MarketWatch had forecast sales to total a seasonally adjusted 455,000 last month. The median sales price climbed 2.6% to $275,500 in February from a year ago. All the homes now on the market would be sold in 4.7 months at the current sales pace, down from 5.7 months in January. That leaves the supply of new homes for sale at the lowest point since June 2013. Unless more homes are built soon, the lack of supply could force prices higher in the spring months when home buying is typically at a peak and potentially constrain sales. Builders have filed permits to increase construction, though they have been focusing more on condos and townhouses than single-family homes. The rise in new home sales in February is at odds with other reports on existing home sales and new construction that showed a decline last month owing to heavy snow in large swaths of the eastern United States.

Consumer prices rise in February for first time in four months

(8:30 AM ET) WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - U.S. consumer prices rose in February for the first time in fourth months, as gas prices rebounded and the cost of food and shelter increased again. The consumer price index climbed a seasonally adjusted 0.2%, the Labor Department said Tuesday. That matched the MarketWatch forecast of economists. Despite the increase in February, consumer prices are unchanged in the past 12 months, the byproduct of a plunge in oil prices in the second half of 2014. The annualized rate had turned negative in January for the first time since 2009. Energy prices increased 1% in February to mark the first gain since last June. Food prices rose 0.2%. Excluding food and energy, so-called core consumer prices also increased 0.2% in February. Core prices are up 1.7% in the past year - close to the Federal Reserve's 2% inflation target - mostly because of higher costs of shelter, new cars and medical care. Real hourly wages, meanwhile, fell by 0.1% in February, the first drop in five months. Real wages have climbed a modest 2.1% in the past year.

Sonus Networks' stock halted after company slashes outlook for current quarter

(7:53 AM ET) NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Sonus Networks' stock
SONS
remain halted for trading, as news that it slashed its first-quarter revenue outlook and that it now expects to report an adjusted loss is disseminated. The secure communications services company said it now expects revenue of $47 million to $50 million and an adjusted per-share loss of 29 cents to 34 cents, compared with its previous estimates of $74 million and a profit of 3 cents a share, respectively. The company said it has initiated a company-wide review of its costs, as it no longer expects to receive certain orders that were expected to be received at the back end of the first quarter. Sonus said it has at least $100 million in cash and marketable securities, and no debt. "As a result of the review announced today, we expect to achieve a cost structure that will ensure we are well-equipped to return to positive cash flow by the end of this fiscal year despite the volatility we are facing," said Chief Executive Ray Dolan. The stock, which is expected to resume trading at 8 a.m. Eastern, has tumbled 34% year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 2.2%.

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